What To Do If Your Latest Gadget Has Become An Electronic Dinosaur

August 30, 1985|By James Barron. New York Times News Service.

Six months after Dr. Michael Salesin became the first person on his block with a videocassette recorder, he realized it was obsolete.

It had been the top of the line when he brought it home several years ago, a one-speed model with remote control. But the films that Hollywood began releasing to the home video rental market were taped at a different speed, and suddenly Salesin`s VCR was an electronic dinosaur. So he bought himself a second-generation VCR with three speeds.

``To be the first on your block, you almost guarantee that whatever you buy will soon be obsolete and you`ll have to upgrade your equipment,`` said Salesin, a gynecologist in suburban Detroit. ``It`s a definite dilemma: Do you wait and buy when technology gets sophisticated, or do you buy early and enjoy it?``

It is a dilemma consumers have faced ever since Thomas A. Edison`s original wax cylinders and hornlike speakers were replaced by vinyl disks, woofers and tweeters. With its promise of better performance, technology has long been to the home electronics industry what hemlines are to Seventh Avenue`s fashion designers, something that marks whatever came before as outdated.

``Innovation is part of this business,`` said Allan Schlosser, a spokesman for the Electronic Industries Association, a Washington-based group representing manufacturers. ``But I don`t think we have revolutionary new products every six months. More often, what comes along are refinements that offer a sharper picture or better sound.``

The quickening pace of technical change is creating new questions for consumers who decide to replace their old equipment. Is it worth it to buy compact disks, which cost $4 to $10 more than the same album in a conventional LP version? Should you discard your turntable altogether when you buy a compact disk player? What can you do with a 10-year-old television when you buy a new one with stereo sound that plugs into your audio component system?

These are questions that raise unpleasant memories for those who remember the clumsy reel-to-reel tapes that predated cassettes or the scratchy 78 rpm records that gave way to better quality 45s and long-playing 33s.

There is the video disk, which RCA abandoned after losing millions of dollars, although Pioneer is proceeding with it. The first VCRs cost as much as $1,500 and were soon replaced by models that cost half that much and offered more features such as wireless remote controls, freeze-frame and fast forward and reverse scanning.

Now video components are becoming smaller and more compatible with home decor. And consumers are buying more and more equipment. Television sales rose from 15.28 million in 1974 to 22.39 million in 1984, and although sales of color sets doubled during that period, last year was the worst year for black- and-white sets, only 5.2 million were sold, down from 6.8 million in 1974. Most of the black-and-white sets sold last year were portables.

But a lot of vintage black-and-white sets and other older equipment still are being used. The electronics association says that half the color television sets made in 1970 are still in use, as are 4 of every 5 made 10 years ago.

``It`s obvious that people don`t toss away a set that still works,``

Schlosser said. ``But that doesn`t prevent them from buying new technology so they can have state-of-the-art equipment. People move them to the guest room, the den or someplace.``

To deal with new technology, consumers adopt several strategies. Some people trade in their equipment for new components, although not all dealers take trade-ins. Salesin`s early Betamax sits on a shelf in his basement. Gary Miller, a Detroit video enthusiast, said: ``It depends. If it`s still in really good shape, I give it to my son. It it`s not, it`s relegated to a shelf in the basement or we give it to charity.``

For many who upgrade their equipment, the problem is not what to do with the old equipment but what to do with the old records. They wonder whether their favorite vintage performances will ever be available on compact disks. Sally Browne, the electronic association`s director of consumer affairs, bought new stereo components last year, replacing a 16-year-old system. She has a collection of Frank Sinatra records, some of which are 78s. Her new turntable plays only 45s and 33s, and she is thinking about adding a compact disk player.

``I`ll never get Jackie Gleason or Bobby Hackett on a compact disk,`` she said, ``but I can copy the 78s onto cassette tapes. I think it`s great that I`m not stuck with just records but can choose from this variety of sources.`` But Abby Kenigsberg of Syosset, N.Y., took a different approach. She unplugged her turntable and carried it to the basement, along with several hundred records.